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Caravel 'El Espiritu' awaits a sunny day

The 73-foot Espiritu, a 16th century caravel, proudly flies the Spanish flag astern. Its new masts can be seen in the foreground. On the extreme left can be seen a corner of the several ton metal wheelhouse, removed by a crane in February. BY DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com

Though nothing dampens the enthusiasm of the dedicated crew of “El Espiritu” — a St. Augustine-built shrimp boat being revamped into a 16th-century Spanish caravel — the ship itself needs to dry out and don new rigging for her trial run.

St. Augustine businessman Dan Holiday, the unofficial supervisor of the all-volunteer Espiritu project, said Friday that the ship is almost ready to be launched, except for one thing.

“Our biggest problem is the weather,” Holiday said. “I’ve never seen rain like we’ve had. We’re not in a drought, believe me.”

When he showed up at the boat’s dry dock at St. Augustine Marine Center on south Riberia Street a few days ago, bilge pumps took two hours to drain the boat, he said. Roughly 20 square feet of fiberglass needs to be applied and the boat moved so the crew can glass areas where it had rested on supports.

Holiday said. “We’re going to take another shot at (glassing it) this week. We can’t put the main mast up until we’re in the water. We need at least three days without rain.”

The Marine Center has donated the use of its property and boat lift to the Espiritu crew for the past 18 months.

The 73-foot, wooden-hulled boat began life in 1980 as the “Apple Jack,” the last shrimp boat built in St. Augustine by Desco Marine, parent company to Ring Power.

Its owner, Kent Thomas, operated the boat as a shrimper for 30 years and didn’t want to scrap it.

In early 2012, Thomas agreed to lease it to Holiday and three of Holiday’s independent-minded friends: Tom Rahner, Bob Hall and Scott Manny. All four had already seen that the length and curves of the shrimper almost exactly matched those of a Spanish caravel, the workhorse of the 16th century Spanish fleet.

Donors large and small contributed money, equipment, labor, supplies and canvas.

They took out the wheelhouse, several large tanks aboard and bought a newer, more efficient engine.

They hoped to launch that November, but the ship wasn’t ready. They then shot for April this year. Again, no dice.

“In March we were occupied by the installation of the bronze Ponce de Leon statue (on Coastal Highway near the Guana Reserve). Then the weather was too rough to launch in April. We started feeling sorry for ourselves,” Holiday said.

Recently, the Espiritu crew received a huge emotional and financial boost from visits by the enthusiastic, young, 22-member crew of El Galeon, a Spanish replica galleon visiting the city.

The Galeon crew gave the Espiritu crew “a huge pile” of ropes and rigging and, as much more experienced sailors, taught them how to use it.

Now, Holiday said, “It’s coming along. When we pick up the main mast, the rigging will already be on it.”